That's What A Family Is
by Shadow-StrikeRaven
Summary: Sequel to The Past Makes A Present of the Future- When Piper is kidnapped by Cyclonis, can the Storm Hawks get her back? And will they be in time to prevent what Cyclonis has planned for the navigator? Also,how will Ace react to going back to the place and past he managed to escape from? -Request fic for CrazyChick14 / Pairings, PxA, Not AxDA / Rating for Language and Torture
1. Chapter 1

**Sequel to The Past Makes a Present of the Future, and a Request Fic for CrazyChick14. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

_Aerrow was stood leaning against the wall, overlooking the plans the others were making for breaking into Cyclonia.  
Only one person was missing. The person that would have made short work of it. The person who would have been able to coax Aerrow back to his normal self. The person who would have had them all together with a battle strategy and full preparations within an hour at the most.  
But that person was the reason they were breaking into Cyclonia. That person was the one they had to rescue. That was the person who's capture had sent Aerrow into a state of silence and self-hatred and anger which the others couldn't break him out of.  
Aerrow couldn't bring himself to imagine what she must be going through. He, himself, had suffered so much at the hands of Cyclonis. Heck, he knew better than anyone what she was capable of. And he would trade places without a moment's hesitation if it meant that he could have is team together and safe…  
Aerrow blinked as Ace got to his feet, sighing, followed by the others.  
Aerrow gave the now complete plan a cursory glance, and nodded. It would work.  
They would make it work.  
No matter what, they were going to get Piper back…_

**Twelve hours earlier…**

Aerrow shuffled slightly, flexing his muscles.  
This particular… training session had been going for a few hours now, and all that remained of his outfit was the trousers. His top had been sacrificed as a diversion, and he and Radarr, his team mate, had covered themselves with mud, and were now blending perfectly into the fauna of the empty, forested Terra. Aside from his hair, but Radarr's camouflaged ears were covering it as he sat on Aerrow's shoulders. It reminded him, funnily enough, of their escape from Terra Zartacla. Ah, good times…  
Aerrow grinned as Finn's head appeared below the tree, one of the sleeves on his outfit having been lost an hour before as he snagged it on a branch running from Piper and Ace, who actually made a pretty darned good team, and the rest of his top covered in tears and what not, and Aerrow silently shuffled to get better aim. With a cry, he blasted at him with the high powered water pistol, and was rewarded with a girlish yelp and subsequent cursing as Finn hastily retreated, blasting at Aerrow as he flipped out of the tree. Right in the path of Junko's water pistol, who-being teamed with Finn-wasted no time in firing at him.  
And getting his hair wet.  
Piper and Ace stood up from their –actually pretty good-hiding places behind the bushes and slowly backed away, and Radarr scampered over to Ace clambering over his shoulder-all thoughts of team allegiance having vanished in the face of the sudden danger- as Aerrow blinked and an his hand through his, now drenched and dripping hair, before bringing his water gun up and setting it to the highest velocity blast setting.  
Junko blinked once, before turning and running, yelling in true Wallopian style, closely pursued by Aerrow, whose uncanny aim never left his back and sent him tumbling into Finn, where the others joined him in getting the two drenched.  
After a few seconds, they both surrendered and Radarr flipped to Aerrow's shoulder as they turned to Piper and Ace, as it was now between the two pairs to determine a winner.  
Then Aerrow raised an eyebrow, as he flicked his wet hair out of his eyes, and grinned, leaving Ace and Piper to share a look that clearly said 'do we really wanna get in the way of that grin?'  
Before they both dropped their guns and threw their hands up.  
"We're out!"  
The words were unanimous and Aerrow gave Radarr a high five.  
"Nice going bud. Still unbeaten… Hey Finn, you okay down there?"  
A muffle cry and a floppy thumbs up came from the teenager, who was squashed beneath Junko with only his hair visible.  
Junko gave a sheepish grin.  
"Sorry Finn!"  
He quickly got to his feet and skirted around Aerrow, who was grinning at him with his 'this is not over' look, leaving the red head to help Finn to his feet, laughing at the disgruntled look, before the all head back to the Condor.

Aerrow whistled as he pulled on a fresh outfit and dried his hair off, before throwing the towel in the basket in the corner and heading to the console room, in response to a message from Stork a few minutes ago.  
He entered to find that only Junko was missing, and flopped down on one of the seats, feet on the table and hands behind his head as he grinned at the others, who were all rolling their eyes and grinning at him.  
Piper smiled as she head over and sat next to him, their hands subconsciously twining together, frowning at his hair.  
"How much trouble is Junko in?"  
Aerrow grinned.  
"Don't worry, Ill consider it even after I get him covered in custard…"  
A startled yell from down the other end of the corridor had Aerrow grinning smugly, and blowing hair out of his eyes as the others looked at him, suspicious.  
"Okay. Now we're even."  
A second of silence, before they all burst out laughing. Junko's arrival, with him still flicking custard off of himself, had Aerrow and Radarr giving each other another high five as Junko sighed and sat down.  
"Okay… I take it that means even?"  
Aerrow grinned.  
"Yup. Honestly, that one never gets old… Anyway, what did you want Stork?"  
The Merb, who had, up till that point, been whistling, turned and sighed, flicking a switch.  
"Message from Starling. Cyclonians."

Starling's voice echoed around from the speakers, slightly metallic, letting them know it was recorded.  
"Storm Hawks, I'm with the Third Degree Burners, on the Terra Tundras… Blister and I are looking into Cyclonian activity in the area and we've come across something rather unusual. Namely Cyclonis herself. There is some sort of crystal harvesting operation going on and we need Piper and Ace to take a look to determine just what kind of crystals are being mined. Anyway, please get back to me as soon as you can... Oh, and congratulations Aerrow. It's Wednesday, and I'm pretty sure that you just had a training session. I'm also pretty sure you and whoever else was on your team won. Like you always do…"  
Her voice crackled away, and Aerrow laughed at the comment about the training session, before nodding to Stork.  
"Stork? Get Starling on a Radio link."  
The Merb gave a snappy salute, before pressing a variety buttons and tuning a dial or two.  
A few seconds later, and Staring's voice echoed through.  
"Starling."  
Aerrow and the others head over, as Aerrow spoke up.  
"Hey Starling, It's Aerrow. We got your message…"  
"Thank Atmos. Activity as sped up, and Blister has head back to inform the council…"  
"Okay, we'll be there as soon as… well, Stork?"  
"Twenty minutes at the most. Ten if I try the Condor's new, modified-"  
"Twenty minutes Starling," Piper butt in, much to Stork's disappointment, and the sky knight laughed.  
"You got it. I'm on the north east side of the Terra's plateau. You'll have to be stealthy…"  
Aerrow nodded.  
"You got it Starling."  
"Good. Then I'll see you in half an hour. Starling out."  
The radio crackled for a moment, then went silent.  
Aerrow rubbed his gloved hands together with a grin, and the others likewise looked eager.  
"Okay, you heard her. Piper, Ace, you guys, me and Radarr will head down. Finn, Junko, stay on the Condor with Stork in case we need a quick getaway."  
They all nodded, and head off to prepare, or in Finn's case sit back down and lounge back, leaving Aerrow to do the same.

Ace rolled his eyes as Aerrow joined them in the hangar bay ten minutes later, and Aerrow raised an eyebrow.  
"What's with the look?"  
"What look?"  
"The whole eye-roll that normally means 'oh dear…'"  
"Oh. That look. It wasn't really a look. It was just… well, a look."  
"… That made next to no sense from where I'm standing."  
"Sitting."  
Aerrow, true enough having just sat on his ride, rolled his eyes.  
"Oh that's just… That was unnecessary."  
"Sure Kiddo."  
Ace grinned as Aerrow simply sighed and turned to Radarr, having realised a few weeks ago that he would have to simply get used to the name. He leant against his own ride, stifling a yawn, and, like so many times over the last few weeks, he let his mind travel back through everything that had happened.

He was on the Condor. Which was a fact that he was still kinda having trouble taking in. He was actually having more fun and excitement than he had had in years. He had a brother, even if he could be irritating as hell… No, irritating as _Finn_ when he wanted to be. He'd been pretty much accepted by the rest of the sky knight population and Atmos as a whole, though he reckoned that helping Aerrow and the Storm Hawks had something to do with that because, no matter how much the council, the rest of the sky knights and the Atmos might deny it, they all had faith in, and respect for, the Storm Hawks squadron.  
Though sometimes, he thought that he was the only one who could see it.  
And Starling. She could clearly see the respect that the Storm Hawks demanded.  
Speaking of Starling, Ace was actually surprised by the amount of trust she had shown in him. And by the fact that she was so willing to accept him after everything he'd done. He'd had to admit it was both surprising and comforting.  
Much like the council's eventual agreement to let him have a weapon. They had no idea that he had never actually stopped using one, but the fact that he was now entitled to made everyone feel a little better.  
Which brought him, as it normally did, back to thinking about the squadron themselves.  
Aerrow had never treated him like anything other than family, the exact same way he treated the rest of his team. Piper had warmed to him pretty quickly, especially after he had started helping her with crystal work, as had Junko and Stork. Finn, however, had taken a little longer, and Ace had realised that he really wasn't as immature as he made out to be. He'd eventually stared to warm to him though, seeing as he was teaching him how to hack different files and what-not. Funnily enough, the kid had a knack for it.  
Then Radarr. The little sky monkey had been very suspicious for a very long time. Until Ace had stopped Aerrow from falling off of a cliff, at which point he had even started clambering onto his shoulder. Which was clearly one of the highest forms of trust the little monkey had.  
So yeah, he was a Storm Hawk again.  
And the fact still constantly hit him at very irregular times.  
But in a good way. Definitely in a good way.

A sudden hand in front of his face had him blinking and nearly falling backwards over his ride, before a hand gripped his shoulder. Ace realised the hand belonged to Aerrow, who was still laughing, until Piper came over and smacked him on the head.  
Aerrow gave her an indignant look, meaning it was Ace's turn to laugh, and Piper gave up, heading over to her heli-scooter.  
Aerrow grinned.  
"You were doing it again…"  
"Doing what?"  
"Staring randomly into space."  
"Oh… Oops."  
"Oops? You nearly fell over backwards. _You_ nearly _fell over_. Mr constantly on alert-"  
"Yeah, I get it. I nearly fell over."  
Ace couldn't keep up the serious look, and it slipped back into an easy grin, something which he had never used to do in Cyclonia. Ever.  
"So… What were you thinking about?"  
"Why would I have to be thinking about anything?"  
"Because whenever you get that look, you're always thinking about something."  
"… No I'm not."  
"Yeah you are."  
"Am not."  
"Most definitely are."  
"Am no- I'm not getting into this again. I'm out. The last time we did this, it went on for half an hour."  
"And I still won."  
"Because you're stubborn."  
"Yeah, _I'm_ the stubborn one."  
"Well what's that supposed to mean?"  
"Nothing. Just felt like saying it and getting you paranoid."  
"I-Kiddo, you are one of the most irritating-"  
"Kiddo has a name!"  
"Yeah, but Kiddo irritates said kid more than said Kid's real name. Hence Kiddo."  
"… You know, I reckon Finn's theory that you have a whole section of your mind taken up with a list of insults ready to be used is a good theory."  
"No my fault you're so easy to annoy."  
"Easy to annoy? I put up with Finn for-"  
"Hey!" Finn's voice echoed through the speakers, and Ace and Aerrow immediately yelled his name.  
"Finn!"  
"Finn!"  
Then they shared a look and Aerrow rolled his eyes.  
"Finn, stop listening in on people's conversations."  
"But it's funny to hear-"  
"Finn, I mean it…"  
"Or what?"  
"Or you'll be cleaning out the hangar bay every day for a month."  
"… Sorry Aerrow, you're breaking up. I can't hear a single word you two are saying…"  
Aerrow shook his head, grinning, as the sound of scuffling came from the other end of the speaker and Stork's voice came through.  
"We're approaching the Terra Tundras. I'm gonna drop down below the Terra's Altitude, that way we have less of a chance of getting blasted into a million tiny pieces."  
"…Good idea Stork. Junko? Get a hold of Starling and let her know."  
"Sure thing Aerrow. You guys be careful…"  
"When are we not?"  
Aerrow grinned as he turned to the others, only to see Ace shaking his head.  
"When are we not? How about all the time? That's not the most reassuring thing you could say. And again with the sarcasm?"  
"Yeah… But it only flares up when I'm in-"  
"In the presence of stupid. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Damn, you can be as irritating as Finn sometimes…"  
"… Oh, now that was uncalled for."  
"Not rea-"  
"Guys!" Piper rolled her eyes as she looked between the two. "Plenty of time for that later. Now get your asses on those rides and act your ages."  
"Physical or mental ages Pi-"  
"Aerrow…"  
"Shutting up."  
Ace snorted and Piper turned to him.  
"You too."  
He gave her a very dramatic, snappy salute,  
"Yes Ma'am."  
She kept up the serious expression for a few seconds longer before it devolved into a giggle.  
"Gods, you two are so… so…"  
"Innocent?"  
Aerrow grinned as he leapt over and pulled her into a spin, coming to a stop with her lowered in his arms.  
"Sweet? Adorable? Funny? Lovable?"  
"Jeez Kiddo, thanks so much! I never thought of myself as any off those-"  
"Shut up Ace…"  
Ace laughed as Aerrow swung her back up and gave her a kiss.  
"Real smooth, Kid."  
"Sarcasm?"  
"In this case? No."  
"Oh… Thanks… I guess…"  
Stork's voice came through again, this time sounding a little exasperated.  
"It appears Starling may have got herself into a little spot of trouble… Which could result in a horrifying resounding doom… So you guy's might wanna get going… Like NOW!"  
They were on their rides in moments, and out of the hanger bay within seconds.

A couple of minutes later, and they were flying above the 'spot of trouble' that Starling had gotten herself into. Namely being surrounded by Talons, though Cyclonis was nowhere in sight.  
Aerrow motioned downwards, and Piper and Ace nodded, banking towards the Terra.  
The moment they landed, right at the edge of the clearing, Ace and Aerrow leapt from their rides and landed next to Staring, sending the rest of the Talons scattering.  
Staring was next to them in moment, having snatched her nun chucks from the Talons that had been holding her down, and nodded  
"Perfect timing. Where's Piper"  
"Right here."  
Piper replied, skidding to a halt next to them, and Aerrow sighed in relief.  
"Okay Starling? Where's your ride?"  
"Other side of the clearing to yours."  
"Ah. Right."  
Before they could act on that information, the Talons had regrouped and started running for them.  
A few moments worth of fighting had Aerrow finding himself back to back with Ace, and Piper with Starling as they fought off the wave of Talons.  
They were just getting the upper hand when Aerrow heard a scream, and span, running for the other two as Piper was engulfed in a purplish pink light, which was coming from a huge Cyclonian fighter that had just appeared.  
He reached her just in time to grab the wings of the Cyclonian fighter, whose rider had grabbed her, and send the ride into a spin, enabling him to spring onto the top.

Ace had followed Aerrow, but was too slow to follow the ride, meaning he quickly gave Starling a hand with the remaining Talons, along with a few flying spanners and pieces of scrap metal and… a chicken? Courtesy of Radarr.  
The last few fell, and he followed the movements of the rides, and, more importantly, the red head who was ducking and dodging blast aimed at him from a very familiar figure...  
And he recognised her just in time to see Aerrow falling from a ride, by which time he was already running for the edge of the cliff face, Starling heading for her ride with Radarr on her shoulder, and preparing to open his glider.

Aerrow ducked a blast, then span onto the underside of the wing before launching himself at the nearest fighter. He knocked the pilot from the seat before leaping to another, and doing the same thing. The two parachutes shot open as he used one of the rides to get closer to the one holding Piper, before leaping onto the fighter and letting the other one fall.  
Before he could move to get Piper, however, who was struggling against her captor, he found himself having to duck and dodge some ridiculously well aimed bolts. Spinning to the source of them, he cursed as he recognised Ravess.  
He managed to avoid the blasts for a few moments, before he gasped in pain as one of them pierced his shoulder. It wasn't deep, and he pulled it out, before the recoil from a blast sent him off balance and he tumbled from the ride.  
His glider was open a few micro seconds later, and he span and wove around the various blasts, managing to down a further three rides by either sweeping the pilots off of their seats or using his own blades to blast at them.  
Just as things were looking like they might work out, however, Ravess got in a fast, curving shot and Aerrow felt a jolt as it connected with one of the joint of his wings.  
Before he could try to compensate for the action, he felt himself starting to spin, and he gave a yell as he was sent into an uncontrollable fall.  
He managed to guide himself onto a thin rocky ledge, but he was moving too fast, and he felt himself slide along and straight over of the edge in a hail of dirt and rocks, barely managing to grab the edge.  
He gave a gasp of pain as he realised he was holding on with his injured shoulder, and he felt his grip loosen on the rock. And before he could swing his other arm up to grab the ledge, the rock beneath his fingers crumbled and he started falling.

Ace cursed as he realised he wouldn't be able to reach Aerrow in time, and twisted to try and use the thermals to pick up speed. Then his eyes focused on Ravess's next shot and he changed course, heading downwards, as he realised that Aerrow wouldn't be able to dodge it. Sure enough, one of the wings of his glider crumpled and he started falling. He managed to direct himself towards a ledge, and Ace followed suit, landing at about the same time as Aerrow, and running for the opposite edge as Aerrow's speed sent him over the edge.  
He threw himself into a dive, and, just as the rock gave way beneath Aerrow's fingers, managed to grab his wrist and stop him from falling, sliding over the edge himself, but getting a firm grip on the rock face with his other hand.  
Aerrow blinked as he looked up, then sighed.  
"Nice timing…"  
"I thought so." Ace pulled him up and over the edge, and Aerrow immediately cursed.  
"Where's Piper!?"  
"Staring's going after her…"  
Ace looked up just as Aerrow did, to watch the other sky knight's progress, before looking to him.  
Aerrow didn't need to be asked and nodded.  
"I'll be fine. Help Staring."  
Ace nodded and leapt off of the ledge, before spiralling upwards, as Aerrow began to climb back up, realising that it was an easy ascent.

He just got to the top, hoisting himself over the edge, when a hand appeared and he accepted it, letting Ace help him up.  
"Piper?"  
The look on Ace's face spoke volumes, an Aerrow felt something shut down inside him…  
Cyclonis had Piper…

Ace leapt off the edge, secure in the knowledge that Aerrow would be fine, and focused on getting to Piper. Starling was keeping Ravess at bay, meaning he had a clear shot to get to the Talon. Or he did have, until Ravess turned her sights on him, with a smirk that usually promised destruction.  
"Well, well, look who it is. Who would have thought you could stoop so low, Acey boy…"  
"Is that the best you can do, Ravess?"  
She laughed, and notched a new arrow.  
"No… This is."  
She let the arrow fly, but Ace was ready or it, and span around, leaving the Arrow to collide with another ride, sending it into a downwards spin.  
"Starling! Get Piper!"  
"You got it!"  
She span her ride in the opposite direction, and Ace flew in Ravess' path, stopping her from following.  
"That's your best? I'm disappointed."  
"Really? Well try this!"  
She loosed three arrows, and Ace relied on is instincts to dodge them. He had been one of the ones to train her, after all…  
Ravess let out a scream of frustration, and loosed arrow after arrow. Whilst he focused on dodging them, he couldn't help but grin. With Ravess out of the picture, Starling had a clear shot at getting Piper.

Starling cursed as one of the Talon's got in a shot, and her ride started losing speed. Her eyes locked with Piper's, and the younger girl mouthed a single word.  
_Tracker…_  
Starling nodded, and grabbed a small crossbow, slotting in a tracking crystal. She lined up her shot, and pulled the trigger. The crystal shattered against the ride, and the Talon laughed, but he didn't notice several pieces of the crystal land near Piper, or her snatching them and sliding them into her boots.  
They might not be able to get to her now, but they could find her.  
Her ride was slowing at an alarming rate, and she quickly called out to Ace, firing off several more shots at the retreating Talons, before being forced to descend. She landed just as Ace did, and just in time to see Aerrow reach the top of the quarry face.

Ace heard Starling's voice, "Ace! Retreat!" and dodged the last few arrows, before Ravess took off in the other direction. He fought the urge to pursue her, and followed Starling down to the ground, realising that Piper wasn't there.  
"Starling? Piper?"  
"Couldn't get to her. I used a tracker but-"  
"Then we can find her."  
Ace held out a hand as Aerrow started hauling himself over the top, and the red head accepted it. The first word out of his mouth, not surprisingly, was Piper's name. Ace realise that there must have been something in his expression, because he saw something fade in the younger man's eyes, and he seemed to lose his balance.  
Ace found it was instinctual to pull him into a hug, and felt the tremors going through him.  
"We'll get her back, Aerrow. I promise."

Aerrow found himself pulled into a hug, and felt himself trembling as he fell into it. He heard Ace's assurance, and nodded, taking a deep breath. He found that he didn't want to pull back, and Ace didn't seem to mind.  
Aerrow eventually took a deep breath, as a familiar weight clambered onto his shoulder and he pulled back, determination in the place of despair, and Starling came over, looking guilty.  
"Aerrow… I-"  
"It's okay. You did everything you could…"  
"I'll help you get her back. I planted a tracker on her, so we can find her…"  
"Then what are we waiting for?"  
Aerrow too out his link, and turned into the Condor.  
"Stork? Get down here."  
The merb must have heard something in his voice, because he didn't ask way, and simply said they were on their way.  
Ten minutes later, they were all on the Condor and doing various things. Starling had left to inform the council of the developments, with the promise that the team would inform her of anything until she got back. Ace was drawing up a more plan of Cyclonia on one of the ones he had previously done, and the others were focused on getting a plan done. Aerrow was leant against the wall, staring into space, his eyes full of varying emotions and none of them looking good.  
As the hours passed, they eventually came up with a plan, and Aerrow nodded as he took it in.  
Of course it would work.  
It had to.

* * *

**Wow, that chapter was longer than I expected it to be. I expected a couple of thousand words, but I ended up with over 4000. Hopefully that's no problem with you guys? And I hope the rapid changes in POV's (if you could call it that) weren't too had to keep up with...**

**Anyway, this is being written for a regular reader and reviewer of mine, CrazyChick14, who is a constant supporter and encourager.  
Hope you liked the first chapter CC, and the next ones will be more of what you were looking for. I just wanted to get all of this stuff out of the way first :D**

**Please review and let me know what you think!  
(Oh, and I may be busy with this one, but I always welcome more requests!)**

**Raven xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, this is gonne be quite a short chapter, and Im sorry about that… But I really needed to update so… Yeah.  
Be warned, here there be angsty tortur..ey sadistic…ness…**

* * *

Piper glared at Cyclonis as she swept into the cell, her usual smirk in place and slipping a crystal inito her staff.  
"Hello Piper…"  
"What do you want, Cyclonis?"  
"Oh, just the usual. Dominion over all of Atmos, the destruction of the Storm hawks and-Oh, yes. That's right."  
Piper cried out as a burst of light engulfed her from Cyclonis' staff, and fell back gasping in pain as Cyclonis got into her face.  
"I want Ace! I want the traitorous… scum… who betrayed me!"  
She punctuated each breath with a whiplash of agonizing pink light, and Piper was left gasping, pressed against the wall, and curled in a ball.  
"And I don't care what I have to do to get him…"  
She slashed her staff a few more times for good measure, then swept out, leaving the cells in darkness, and leaving Piper to try and control the pained gasps and tears that had forced themselves out.  
She didn't know what those crystals were, or where they came from. All she knew was that they were agony…  
"Aerrow…" she whispered, as the tendrils of unconsciousness threaded into her mind and her eyes began to close, "Please hurry…"  
_

Aerrow was pacing, impatient to get going, when he felt someone come up behind him.  
"Finn?"  
"I just wanted to… ya know… Look, just be careful alright? I just wish I could come with you…"  
"We need you to wait outside in case we need a backup." Then Aerrow realised that he sounded detached, and sighed, giving Finn a smile. "For what it's worth, I wish you were coming too…"  
"Yeah, but who better to have your back than Ace, eh? And don't forget Radarr!"  
Aerrow sighed, nodding and returning to his pacing.  
"Yeah. And we'll be fine… Always are, right?"  
Finn gave a weak smile.  
"Yeah. The Storm Hawks, improvisation extraudinaires…"  
"We should make T-shirts…"  
"Hey, now I know what to get you all for Christmas!"  
Aerrow gave a genuine smile at that, small, but there, then it faded.  
"I need to get her back Finn…"  
"I know buddy. And you will. We all know you will, and Piper knows it too. She'll be fi-"  
"No! You… you don't know what… what it's like Finn… You don't know what she can do… And the fact that Piper-"  
"You ready to go, Kiddo?"  
Aerrow blinked, nodding as Ace came into the room, and sighed.  
"About time… Bye Finn."  
"Stay safe bro…"  
"Don't I always?"  
"… Not going to answer."  
"Hmm, you're learning I see…" Aerrow said, shooting him a quick smile, before hopping on his ride, Radarr right behind him, and gunning the engine.  
"Hang on Piper…" he muttered, flying from the hangar bay, right behind Ace, "Just hang on…"  
_

Piper was shivering, both from the pain and the cold, when it got lighter, and Cyclonis arrived again.  
"I have a proposition for you, Piper…"  
Piper snorted, thankful when it came out sounding completely off hand and irritated.  
"The answer is no."  
"Now, now. Let's not be hasty… All I want is your help with a certain crystal combination I am working on."  
"In order to do what? Destroy something else? Like hell!"  
Cyclonis smirked, before suddenly darting forward and slashing her staff, sending a flare of pain across Piper's body and causing her to scream.  
"Oh dear Piper, have you not realised? You're already in hell… And there is no one coming to save you-"  
"My team will… will come after me…" she managed to say, between the pained gasps, but Cyclonis simply laughed, pityingly.  
"Oh Piper, such misguided faith. How could you possibly think that a single squadron will be able to get past every security measure I have in place? Talons, leechers, crystal arrays… the list just goes on. They won't be able to get past, even if they were to try… And they have yet to do even that. End the pain now, Piper, and join me…"  
"No… Never."  
Cyclonis' face darkened, before she pulled herself upright.  
"Very well. Maybe you will change your mind with a little more persuasion."  
Piper was soon lost to the pain, as blast after blast and web after web of crystal energy lashed out at her, engulfing her body in flames of pain, and she didn't immediately register when it stopped, the echoes still rampaging through her body. She glared at Cyclonis, through the haze of pain, and felt a sharp cold blade on her cheek, travelling along her jaw.  
"Such a pretty face… It would be a shame to ruin it. Don't be foolish Piper, end this now."  
"N-no…" It was a choked sound, half whisper, half sob, and she hated herself for showing such weakness.  
Cyclonis sighed, then Piper cried out again as she felt he blade drawn down her face, from partway up the side of her cheek following the curve of her face and coming to rest part way along the bottom of her jaw.  
"Might want to re-think that, Piper… But do hurry, I have such a hectic schedule."  
With that, she wiped the blade off on the shoulder of Piper's outfit, and swept out.  
Piper found she couldn't uncurl herself from the hunched over position she was in, and fought the tears that threatened, fighting back the sobs that were trying to work their way out, as the blood dripped down her face.  
A tentative hand, one of her fingers tracing the line of the cut, and she winced, gasping, as she pressed on it.  
The dark finally found a way in again, and she surrendered to it, gratefully, her body shivering from the echoes of the pain, and from the knowledge that it wasn't over.

* * *

**Okay, yup. It's official. I hate myself… And not my best chapter ever, either... *sigh*  
Next chapter, I'm going to try something different, and have a little actually from Piper's POV… and maybe Cyclonis'? Because I'm weird like that?D  
Please let me know and also tell me what you think by leaving a review!**

**Raven xx**


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